Scoring and punching device for loose leaf covers



s. D. LIGHT Jan. 14, 1936..

SCORING AND PUNCHING DEVICE FOR LOOSE LEAF COVERS Filed May 29, 1934 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Siam: 12L

ATTORNEY.

9 113% s. D, mam" E A sconme Aim) PUNCHING DEVICE FOR LOOSE LEAF covsasFiled May 29, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ORNEY.

Patented Jan. 14, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SCORING AND PUNCHINGDEVICE FOR LOOSE LEAF COVERS 5 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in scoring and punching devicesfor loose leaf covers. At the present time it is customary, after thecovers have been printed and/or embossed or stamped, to place the coversone at a time in a scoring machine wherein the five or six lines alongwhich the cover is subsequently to be folded are scored or indented inone direction. The covers are then folded by hand along the score marks,and, as two of the folds have to be made in the opposite direction tothe other three or four, and in the reverse direction to theindentations made by the score marks, a slight inexactitude in theuniformity of the folded portions of the cover results. The foldedcovers are then each folded and fed twice into a punching machine topunch the necessary holes. Consequently ineach transverse set of fourholes some of them are often found to be out of registry with theothers.

It is an object of the invention to provide such a scoring and punchingdevice whereby the scoring and all the punching of an entire cover maynot only be done simultaneously, but also simultaneously with theprinting and/or embossing or stamping of the cover. Thus I aim toprovide a device with which considerable time and labor may be saved andgreater accuracy obtained.

Another object of the invention is to provide a scoring and punchingdevice of this character whereby the score marks are so formed that allthe resultant indentations in the covers occur in the directions inwhich the folds are subsequently made.

The invention further aims, among other things, to provide a scoring andpunching device which is relatively cheap and simple to manufacture;wherein the cooperating parts of the device may be readily mounted uponthe chase and platen respectively of either a vertical or horizontalpress; wherein means are provided for automatically shedding thepunched-out portions of the cover from the device; wherein provision ismade for setting the punches for cutting holes at any desired standardspacing to suit the size and type of loose leaf cover being made; andwherein a simple arrangement is provided for stripping the cover fromthe device when the holes have been punched.

With these and other objects and advantages in view which will becomeapparent as the speci fication proceeds, the invention is hereinaftermore fully described with the aid of the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

.Figure v1 illustrates a perspective view of one type of printing pressequipped with my scoring and punching device.

Figure 2 is another perspective view diagrammatically illustrating thesetting of the die plates upon the chase, and one of the punch plates, 5

Figure 7 is a sectional view of a portion of a 15 cover scored andpunched by the plates shown in Figure 6, and indicated thereon are thevarious portions of the cover folded in their final positions.

Figure 8 is a sectional view of a modified form 20 of die plate andpunch plate in operation; in this case one die plate and one punch plateonly are employed instead of two spaced die plates and two correspondingpunch plates.

Figure 9 is a sectional view of a portion of a 25 cover scored andpunched by the plates shown in Figure 8, and indicated thereon are thevarious portions of the cover folded in their final positions.

Figure 10 is an enlarged detail showing a mo'diso fication.

In Figures 1 to '3 inclusive the invention is shown mounted upon onetype of vertical printing press, though obviously it may be similarlymounted upon other types of vertical or horizontal presses and supportedtherein by appropriate means.

Referring to the drawings, l designates a portion of a conventionalprinting press having a chase 2 and a reciprocating platen 3. Plates orcuts 5 are secured upon the chase 2 in the usual manner by packingpieces or furniture 5 and cooperating Wedges or quoins 6. Also held uponthe chase 2 by the furniture 5 and spaced from one another by otherfurniture 5a. are two die plates 1. Obviously the plates or cuts 4 maybe of the kind used for any form of printing by which term I alsoinclude such processes as embossing and stamping. It will also be notedthat the die plates l are positioned slightly beneath the plates or cuts4 to escape contact with the inking rollernot shown.

The die plates 1--shown in detail in Figures 4 and 6-consist of dieelements 8 supported upon die rests 9, and secured thereto preferably bymeans of screws l and dowels Formed through each die element are twolongitudinally and transversely aligned sets of apertures |2 havingbushings I3 therein the inner faces of which bear against the die rests9. Thus provision is made for the ready interchange of bushings ofvarious sizes. Formed in the outer face of each die element 8 are twogrooves 14 which are substantially parallel with the longitudinalmargins of the element and to one another; and parallel with thesegrooves l4 and substantially central of each element a projection l5integral with the latter is formed. This projection I5 is ofsubstantially the same cross section as that of the grooves M. The lowerextremities of the die rest 9, which are usually made of channelsection, project below the die elements 8, and formed through the lowerextremities of the said rests intermediately of their width areopen-ended slots I6.

Upon the outer face of the platen 3 packing pieces I1, usuallyconsisting of superimposed layers of paper or cardboard, are held as bythe conventional pivoted yokes 3a provided upon the sides of the platen.Two spaced punch plates it are secured to the packing ll preferably by asuitable adhesive. Each punch plate is provided upon its outer face withtwo integral and parallel projections I9 to register with the grooves Mof one of the die plates 1, and centrally of its width each punch platehas a longitudinal groove 20 formed therein to register with theprojection IE on the opposed die plate I.

Formed through the punch plates l8 are apertures 2| to receive andsupport the reduced extremities 22a of punches 22 which are so spaced asto be in registry with and enter the bushings l3 in the die elements 8.Concentric with the apertures 2| shallow counterbores 23 are formed inthe outer faces of the punch plates I8 to receive resilient washers 24,which are generally made of cork or rubber, and which function asstrippers.

The method of setting the punch plates l8 in registry with the dieplates 1 is as follows: The 'die plates are first mounted upon the chase2 in the manner already described. The punch plates |8 are then laidoperatively upon the die plates, and through openings I81: and la formedthrough the plates I8 and 1 respectively short dowels 25 are inserted.The platen 3 with its packing H, which has previously been coated with asuitable adhesive, is then moved so that the said packing bears againstthe rear faces Y of the punch plates I8, and is held there until theadhesive has set. The plates 7 and I8 are then mounted in operativerelation to one and the other, the platen 3 is moved away from the chase2 and the dowels 25 are removed. Owing to the thickness of the punchplates |8 it is frequently necessary to secure additional packing l'laupon the packing I! to the sides of and between the punch plates. Thisis done in order to reduce the forward projection of the latter andeliminate the possibility of the cover being flexed, and thereby moved,during the printing, scoring and punching operation.

From the foregoing it will be clearly seen that by setting the punch anddie plates in the manner described the cooperating grooves I4 and 20 andprojections l9 and I5 form scoring indentations upon the cover A, andthat all these indentations occur in the directions in which the variousportions of the cover are to be folded. Again the apertures 2| for thepunches 22, and the bushings |3 with which these punches coact, are setat the required intervals for standard punching so that any desirednumber of openings at standard spacings may be formed through the coverA simultaneously with the scoring and printing, by 5 placing punches 22in the correct apertures 2|. The purpose of utilizing two separate setsof die and punch plates is so that each set may be spaced from the otherthe required distance to provide the desired width of back B for thecover. 10

Figure 8 shows the utilization of a slightly modified form of punch anddie plate. In this case only one of each is employed. The die plate lidis provided with three longitudinal grooves [4d, the centre one of whichis usually of somewhat greater width than the other two, and twointegral projections |5d which are par allel to and positioned one oneach side of the centre groove Md. The punch plate |8d has threelongitudinal projections |9d to register with the grooves Mid and twolongitudinal grooves 20d to register with the projections |5d. Moreoverthese punch and die plates are provided with four rows, instead of two,of longitudinally and transverse aligned bushings |3d and punchreceiving aper- 5 tures 2|d respectively. This form of die and punchplate is employed when the cover to be scored and punched is to have noappreciable width of back and is intended to contain only a small numberof pages.

When the die and punch plates 1 and I8 are mounted horizontally it isnecessary to provide means for discharging cuttings from beneath the dierests 9 as they will not fall out as they do when the plates arevertically mounted. One of the ways in which I accomplish this is toclose one extremity of each rest 8 with a transverse wall 38, indicatedin Figure 4, and to provide a threaded opening 3| through both theelement 8 and rest 9. Into that opening I screw one extremity of an airhosenot shown-and utilize air pressure for discharging the cuttings outof the slot Hi.

When covers are being made of certain kinds of material difiiculty issometimes experienced with the cuttings which wedge in and behind thedie bushings. I overcome this by providing, in such instances, cuttingejectors shown in Figure 10.

The bushing |3e is held against rearward 50 movement in the die plate 1eby a shoulder 34 formed by reducing the size of the rear portion of theaperture into which the said bushing |3e fits. The front extremity 35 ofthe bushing |3e is of reduced internal diameter to receive the punchwith which it cooperates. Axially slidable on the bushing is an ejector36 having its front portion of lesser diameter to slide in the frontextremity 35 of the bushing; the ejector is normally held in thatpositioh by a spring 31 the rear extremity of which bears against a plug38 threadedly engaged with the rear portion of the bore of the bushing|3e.

Thus when the punch moves into the bushing the ejector is movedrearwardly against the tension of the spring 31, and as the punch anddie plates separate the spring returns the ejector to its advancedposition and ejects the cutting.

Figure 7 illustrates the necessity of having properly aligned openings Cthrough the cover A; through folded portions of the latter and throughthe said openings C pins D are inserted to retain leaves E.

While in the foregoing the preferred embodiments of the invention havebeen described and shown, it is understood that the invention issusceptible to such further alterations and modifications as fall withinthe scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An arrangement of the character described comprising a press havingtwo relatively movable platens, a plate secured upon each platen so thatsaid plates are opposed to one another, the plates having a plurality ofparallel and opposed projections and grooves formed upon their c0actingfaces in registering pairs to form score marks in a cover to act asguides in folding the latter, in combination with means carried by saidplates for simultaneously forming through the cover pairs of openings intransverse alignment so that each pair is in registry when the cover isfolded along the score marks, said openings being adapted to receivepins by which leaves are re tained between portions of the cover whenfolded along the score marks.

2. An arrangement of the character described comprising a press havingtwo relatively movable platens, a plate mounted upon each platen so thatthe plates are opposed to one another, the plates having a plurality ofparallel and. opposed. projections and grooves which constitute scoremarkers formed upon their coacting faces to form score marks for foldinga loose leaf cover, in combination with a plurality of punches carriedby one plate on opposite sides of the central score marker thereon, andthe opposed plate having apertures therein to receive said punches sothat a plurality of aligned apertures are formed through the coversimultaneously with the score marks, said latter apertures being adaptedto receive pins by which leaves are retained between folded portions ofthe cover.

3. In an arrangement of the character described, the combination of aprinting press having two relatively movable platens, a plate mounted onone platen adapted to print covers placed between the platens, otherplates one mounted upon each platen, and cooperating means on said otherplates for punching and scoring the covers at the same time that theyare printed, said punching means operating to produce apertures atopposite sides of the scormg.

4. In an arrangement of the character described, the combination of aprinting press having relatively movable platens, a plate mounted on oneplaten to print covers placed between the platens, another plate mountedupon each platen, cooperating means on said other plates for scoring thecovers at the same time that they are printed, and coacting meanscarried by the said other plates and arranged on opposite sides of thecentral scoring means thereon for punching 20 the covers on both sidesof the central score mark simultaneously with the printing and scoring.

5. A means for scoring and punching flexible covers comprising twoplates adapted to be ccoperatively mounted on relatively movableplatens, said plates having cooperating projections and grooves formedthereon which constitute score markers so that score marks are formedthereby in a flexible cover placed between the plates when the latterare brought substantially together, in combination with punches mountedin one of the plates on opposite sides of the score marks thereon, andthe other plate being apertured opposite said punches so that the coversare punched at the same time that they are scored, said punches andapertures being so arranged that the punched holes register in pairswhen the cover is folded along the score marks.

SIDNEY D. LIGHT.

